Gradient Panel

Gradient creation, editing and sharing made simple

The Story

There are a large variety of graphics applications
incorporating gradients (color shaders), but so far
there have been very few attempts to standardise an
interface for creating and editing them. This leads
to a steeper learning curve for users, an
inconsistent feature set between applications, and
unnecessary extra work for developers.

Our offer aims to provide both a standardised
interface for editing gradients, and a standardised
data type for exchanging gradient data between
elements of the same or different applications. In
attempting this, we have been inspired by the
standard NSColorPanel user interface and by the
NSColor standard data type. Building on the
conventions established by these components, we
present an interface that is initially simple,
attractive and unintimidating for users, but which is
nevertheless feature-rich and comprehensive for more
demanding work desired by advanced users. We believe
that in comparison to the majority of gradient
editing controls found in today's graphics
applications, our approach is more intuitive, more
featureful and a much more complete solution.